International Journal of Agricultural Engineering

A. K. Chandraker ¹, A. K. Dave ¹, D. Khalkho ¹, R. K. Naik ¹

Affiliations
1 Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur C.G., IN

Abstract

Survey conducted in two villages of Bastar District of Chhattisgarh revealed that the percentage share of average tractive power, stationary power and draught animal power is 4.64(0.027 kW/ ha), 37.33(0.07 kW/ha) and 76.7(0.34 kW/ha), respectively of cultivable area. Average farm power availability of the selected villages was found to be less than the national average i.e. 1.6 kW/ha. The villages have sufficient draught animals, indigenous implements and hand tools like indigenous plough, biasi plough, kopar, patela, pick-axe, crowbar, spade, wooden mallet etc. The study indicated a dire need of increasing the farm power availability and farm mechanization in this particular area to increase the productivity of land

Keywords

Farm Power Availability, Indigenous Implements, Hand Tools

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Ramulu ¹, A. K. Dave ¹, I. Srinivas ², B. Laxman ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur (C.G.), IN
2 Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad (Telangana), IN
3 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad (Telangana), IN

Abstract

Tillage is the most important unit and more energy consumption operation in agriculture. The most widely accepted method of tilling land is ploughing with plough and cultivators. These invert the upper soil layer, without proper mixing of soil, hence, these needs additional operations of rotavator and harrow to improve soil tilth on the ploughed land. The tractor mounted rotavator holds promise for overcoming these problems. Rotavator under dynamic loading, blades are subjected to fatigue and abrasive wear. Abrasive wear has been emerged as a serious problem in rotavator blades. It increases the down time and maintenance cost. The objective of this study was to identify the suitable material for reducing of wear of rotavator blades. For this study a preliminary survey was conducted in the region (Telangana) to know the popularity of rotavator and types of blades being used by farmers, it was found that L types of blades are more in numbers in the region with the two make of rotavators, from this study we have selected a two rotavator blades i.e. blade1 and blade 2. The study revealed that there was wide variation in element composition and mechanical as well as micro-structural properties of these rotavator blades, the wear loss percentage of blade1 higher than the blade 2 and It was also found in the study blades which are selected manufactured locally are hardly at par with the standards in terms of material.

Keywords

Rotavator, Abrasive Wear, Tillage, Hardness, Wear Loss.

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C. Yella Swami ¹, A. K. Dave ¹, Ravikant V. Adake ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur (C.G.), IN
2 Central Research Institute for Dry Land Agriculture, Hyderabad (Telangana), IN

Abstract

Methods of weeding and crop residue mulch with minimum soil disturbance have greater importance in conservation agriculture. Considering the importance of weeding and crop residue mulch in conservation agriculture point of view the project was envisaged to develop double axial transverse rotary mechanism anticipating that there would be a minimum soil disturbance without compromising cutting efficiency, shredding efficiency and weeding efficiency. The prototype developed and tested at Farm Machinery Research Workshop, Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad during 2016-17. Experiments were conducted with sorghum stalk to finalized critical parts such as blade, rotor length, rotor speed, forward speed for development of prototype. Prototype has two cylindrical rotors having triangular edged tooth plates on its periphery rotating in opposite directions in plane. The rotational speed of cylinders was 450 rpm and suitable for 3 km/h travel speed of tractor. The machine was tested in field conditions for sorghum, maize, castor and red gram crop stem cutting and shredding and weeding. The cutting efficiency of finalized model for sorghum, maize, castor, red gram was found to be 94 per cent, 81 per cent, 72 per cent and 68 per cent, respectively. The shredding of finalized model for sorghum, maize, castor, red gram was found to be 69 per cent, 61 per cent, 46 per cent and 41 per cent, respectively. The performance of prototype in terms of cutting and shredding efficiency was found to be superior for 25 per cent stem moisture compared to 45 per cent and 65 per cent stem moisture and it was true in all the crop studied. The weeding efficiency of newly developed model was comparatively lower it disturbed only one inch soil depth as against 1.5- 2.0 inch soil depth which indicated that the soil disturbance for per unit area was about 33-50 per cent less when weeding was done with newly developed rotary tiller. Overall, the prototype was found to suit the theme of conservation agriculture.

Keywords

Cutting Efficiency, Shredding Efficiency, Weeding Efficiency, Stem Moisture, Crop Residue, Rotor Speed.

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